I beg to differ. They most definitely do.

Back with the old map, we had people counting planets, making sure they were on equal footing with everybody else. When the little dots of one faction got threatened, or some faction we didn't think deserved dots decided to try to claim said dots, we took sides over it. Called it overexpanding, or protecting the nation/race/culture/whatever you named it.

Fact is, there was loads of drama over it, and the fact that the star map kept expanding and those dots kept adding up proves there was some notion of greed, of oneupsmanship involved in the whole process.

At least with the new map, we have rather vague borders AND we make it a lot harder to expand because in order to make your circle bigger, you have to add loads of planets to fill it out. Also, with the bigger maps, there isn't so much of an emphasis on the number of planets one faction owns. It's just a vague concept of 'controlled space' which really has no bearing on what's in that space to begin with.

In my opinion, this forces people to do a lot more work into the process of expansion, which is a wonderful thing.



I partially disagree. Expansion will exist, yes, but without the 'visual candy' of a map, the idea of territory becomes a lot more abstract, which I think it should be.

Will territorial expansion happen? Of course.

Is territorial expansion a good thing? In most cases, no. Maybe for plotship-based expansion, I can support it, but not others.

In fact, I challenge people to prove me wrong when, in a majority of the cases, territorial expansion of one nation or another didn't lead to some OOC bickering or drama. Mainly because someone just decided to plant some flags somewhere.

We gotta take everything into perspective and try to utilize a new approach. I hope this map is a step in the right direction.

To Nashoba: no worries.

If anything, the new map system would increase "land grabbing."


- Sectors eliminate being crowded by neighboring factions (eg Yamatai beign all around the Seelie and Abwheran factions) so there is room too expand more.
- Sectors make factions more defensible in their bubble and so there's less reason not to expand
- The map is much larger in LY so there is more to claim
- Factions will naturally want to expand to "fill" their sector so no other factions can move in on them so they will grab more systems
- FMs will likely update their sectors to have more star systems at their convenience, which they likely will do to increase their industry levels (affecting ship counts, etc)
- Because the maps are split up, sector changes won't be visible to people who aren't watching for them so there may be "low key/stealth expansion."

We should probably have more stringent rules for expansion to keep this fair, then. Restrictions based on RP and playerbase size, and try to instill a 'less is more' attitude among FMs.

I can't believe what I'm reading here and some of the attitudes that some of you have considering how amazing Exhack's work has been. Oh no! Players = Planets = Production doesn't work anymore because planets are more nebulously defined? Then get rid of the middle part of the equation and Players can still equal Production. And amazingly this fixes the problem where a Faction would have to lose planets because they are at a low point in players. Now, they have a potential story hook to explain why production is low. Perhaps the war with the Mishhu is going bad? Perhaps there is some political or economic upheval? But please, keep whinging that Exhack's awesome update now screws everything up.

But oh no! Distances are now further and strategically bluh bluh bluh. The map can already be leapt in an inconsiquential time. Adding some distance isn't going to change that by a significant factor. Especially given the fact, that there is no tactical advantage to location in SARP space where you can just leap to any point on the map in a matter of minutes or seconds. If some of you guys spent half the energy you spend complaining about things instead constuctively adding to the site, this site wouldn't have the problems it does at the higher levels.

So, not only do I applaud Exhack for taking the intiative on this new art, but I additionally applaud him on sticking around and continually improving the site, its roleplay, and its lore by his work, his presence and the effect it all has on others.

Wes and I just disagree on the impact of the map update, not that the map update is a bad thing at all. In fact, I think we both love it. Uso raises relevant points himself, but I think they've been addressed for the most part.

I think you missed that, Revolver.

I was thinking we could approve the big map and then work out the details on the sector maps individually. I know I want to change the KMS one to more closely match the original, for instance.

With the dead FTL zones?

Please no! T_T

The Dead FTL zones as the occasional space phenomenon is fine and all, but when you start spamming them around... it just gets ridiculous. I don't want them back.

I beg! Pretty please with strawberry on top!

I just want my systems in the same positions.

I'm also thinking of making cute little icons for each major space station since we're getting a lot of them now.

I agree that Icons for stations would be p. cash.

Especially since I run several stations.

I went to the trouble of giving the UX systems names and changed the positions around mostly as a suggestion. If FMs would prefer their systems to be arranged differently, I'm open to requests via an MS paint example of the new arrangement, and wouldn't offended if they used the .psd and reworked it themselves.

There is only one things I'm not going to compromise on in this case.

Microsoft Bold Extended ATT is the standard font I used for everything. It should probably remain that way unless a more appropriate and more sci-fi font is chosen, to keep the articles looking fairly professional.

Size 12 for worlds and objects. Size 18 for major landmarks and the LY counter on 50-100 LY maps, minor ones on 200+. Size 24 is standard for major landmarks on 200 LY+ maps and the size marker for those. 36 is generally only used for the title of a map.

I marked off all worlds with a size nine hard brush, in white. Stations were done with a size 4. It's optional, and was only carried over if it was on the original map.

Oh. And even though I marked off stars on the maps, those listings are not permanent or absolute. Inside of a cluster there could be many more systems than those which are initially charted, and some stars might be stricken from the map when they prove to be empty or are destroyed.

PS: Beacon's Perch is supposed to be the Freespacer Preserve (that I remember you dismantled ICly a while ago...)